Caring for Pollinators - Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Schuchmann Fact sheet pollinators: Avian pollinators: Hummingbirds, Sunbirds,
Honeyeaters, Hawaiian Honeycreepers (Trochilidae,Nectariniidae,
Meliphagidae, Carduelidae)
POLLINATOR GROUP:
BIRDS
Author: Karl-L. Schuchmann
I. Hummingbirds
Family Trochilidae
Order Apodiformes
Non-Passeres
Species number
New world: c. 330
Number of genera: 115
Distribution
Blue-throated Hummingbird (Lampornis clemenciae), Arizona,
USA, visiting flowers of Penstemon sp. (Scrophulariaceae),
Photo: Karl-L. Schuchmann
New World only (Nearctic and Neotropical Region). Extremely wide range of habitats from
sea-level to Andean snowfields and glaciers above 4000 m, absent only in extreme hot
South American deserts (Peru and Chile). Highest species diversity in the equator-near
mountains (Andes, Atlantic Rain Forest Mts. of Brazil) between 1000-2000 m a.s.l.
(Schuchmann 1999). 70% of all species occur in South America, species number declines
strongly with increasing latitudes.
Hummingbird biology and pollination
Hummingbirds are the smallest of all nectarivorous birds. Their body mass ranges from 1.9
to 22 g.
Thousands of New World plant species rely exclusively upon hummingbirds for pollination.
As a consequence of the year-round high energy requirements of trochilids, plants that are
pollinated by hummingbirds provide nectar at all times of the year, creating the opportunity of
a phenological displacement of flowering times as a means of reducing interspecific pollen
flow.
170